


A Wolf's Dream

by diamond_sunstorm



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Adventure, Coming of Age, Developing Relationship, M/M, Mainly OCs only, No Dovahkiin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-14 17:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18480694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamond_sunstorm/pseuds/diamond_sunstorm
Summary: Growing up means proving yourself. And what could be better for a young hunter devoted to Kyne than to take part in one of Her Sacred Trials? Ailín, a hunter living in the wilds of Falkreath with his community, has the opportunity to complete such a trial. Together with his best friend since early childhood Kai, he sets out to fulfill his long-awaited dream. Unbeknownst to them, dangers neither could have predicted await them. But nothing could ever tear the strong bond of friendship the two young men share. Or could there be?





	1. Prologue

The woman sat alone, the fireplace dimly illuminating her face, giving her short light brown hair a golden shimmer. Her loose linen clothes still gave away her broad figure and a fur draped over her legs protected her from the cold. The night laid silent surrounding the small settlement, only disrupted by the cracking fire and the singing cicadas on the nearby fields. From time to time, she threw in another block of wood to keep the fire ignited.

"Jona." Hearing her name, the woman looked up to see who had called her. Another woman was walking towards her, giving away her appearance as soon as she stood close enough to the light. “Minna, it’s you. Why don’t you come sit here with me?” Jona pointed her to sit next to her on the bench.

Minna sat down as offered. Her long gray hair fell lightly down her back and her face showed the signs of her age. In her hand she had carried a worn book which she now carefully placed on the bench so she could join Jona under the fur. 

Both sat in silence for a while, staring into the flames and warming their hands on them, until Jona began to speak. “So, do you have anything you wanted to talk about?"

Minna smiled and picked the book up again, handing it to Jona. "Ailín. You know I've come to talk to you about your son. I think he is ready for one of Kyne’s sacred trials. That’s why I’ve brought you the book about them."

Jona stared at the book cover. It showed traces of frequent use over the years, the paint almost completely chipped off and the binding only held by a few threads. 

"Kyne, Goddess of the Storm... I haven't read this book in ages." Reading the title out loud, Jona carefully opened the first page. A hawk, symbol of Kyne, had been neatly drawn on the first page that would have been empty otherwise. She felt the parchment in her hand, then skipped through the book's pages. It contained mostly stories about Kyne herself, collected and written down by devoted worshippers over time, but also drawings and prayers that had been scribbled on free spaces by the previous owners, who had passed it down to other members of the community.

She turned her head to Minna. "Are you sure Ailín is ready? You know, he's still so young, and I'm worried he might let it go to his head. It's a really important task that he shouldn't take lightly. We can still wait for some time." Jona expressed her concerns, but Minna placed a caring hand on her shoulder. 

"I'm certain he is. We haven't had anyone take part in the trials in a long time, and Ailín has proven himself as a skilled hunter more than often enough. If you don't believe me, you can accompany him on his morning hunt. Then you can decide whether he should partake in the trial, I’ll trust your decision."

Jona sighed. "It's not that I don't trust his skills, but whether he can deal with all this on his own. He has always had the support of our community, but if he accepts the trial, we can't intervene. He might not be able to handle the responsibility."

"But Ailín doesn’t have to go alone. He will absolutely ask Kai to come with him, those two are inseparable. And as long as he is with him, he would never do something irresponsible, I'm sure." Minna laughed. "If I have to remind you, you weren't that different from him when you were young, and you managed to complete your own trial just fine."

Being reminded of her own past, she jokingly rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll take you by your words. Tomorrow I will go hunting with him, and if he proves himself worthy, I propose the opportunity to him." Jona took a break while skipping through the book to find the pages she was looking for. "Here, the sacred trials. A hunter's highest achievement and honor, to slay one of Kyne's sacred beasts and receive her blessing. There are several different animals a hunter might choose for their personal trial, depending on their technique, preference and level of skill." 

Minna had to stop Jona in her reading flow so she found the opportunity to add her own thoughts. "I think it's rather obvious what would be the best choice for Ailín's trial."

"The wolf."

"Correct. While it isn’t among the most dangerous trials, the Trial of the Wolf still is quite challenging, because the hunter has to prove they are able to be patient and show persistence in hunting their prey down. Even then, the wolf is a dangerous predator, so it's not something Ailín can take easy. But his hunting shows exactly those qualities and he has had his experience with wolves already."

"He has. That's why Kai calls him wolf all the time. Ever since he hunted down that lone white wolf up in the mountains." Jona smiled, remembering how proud her son had looked when he came back with the trophy of his hunt. He had told the whole community at least ten times how he managed to track down the wolf and slay it.

"How old was he again back then? 15 years if I remember it correctly, right?" 

Jona affirmed her guess. "Yes, two years ago. To be honest with you, I would've never thought he would actually succeed. I just really underestimated him."

"And you still do, in a way. You're his mother after all. But everyone in the community would say he’s ready for it, so give him the chance to prove himself." Minna looked up at the night sky, thousands of stars shining down on them. "We're honestly lucky to have him. He’s such a sweet boy."

"Oh my, you’re going to far with the praise and he isn’t even here to hear it.” Jona hummed, then she yawned. “If I want to go hunting with him tomorrow, I better get some rest now. He always gets up so early and I don't want to oversleep." She handed Minna the book again. "Do you keep the guard over the village tonight?"

"I will. Sleep well, may Kyne watch over your dreams. And don’t forget, you’re the one who has to initiate the ritual with him, so make your choice wisely. But don’t forget what I’ve told you."

With a smile, Jona left the fireplace and jogged over to the small wooden cabin which she occupied as her living space. Before entering, she stopped to kneel on the ground, muttering a quick prayer to Kyne to protect the village for the night. She then slowly opened the front door so the squeaking noise wouldn’t wake up her friends that had gone to bed earlier already. Inside, it was warm and safe from the cold wind, and only two lanterns kept the place bright enough she didn't trip over anything scattered around on the floor.

Jona climbed up the ladder to her bedroom a floor above. Lene and Sonja, the two women she shared her place with, laid in their bed already, their limbs entangled, sleeping peacefully. Taking off her shirt, she crawled under the fur blankets of her own bed and adjusted the pillow so she could comfortably rest her head on it. Once she was done, she laid still and closed her eyes.

Listening to the other two women's steady breathing, she soon joined them in their sleep.


	2. A fateful morning

Ailín's hair stuck out in all directions when he crawled out of his bed, careful not to accidentally step on Kai in the dark, who was still soundly asleep next to him. He wanted it to stay like that for a while, so he covered him with their fur blanket again. His friend only responded with a tired "Hrmph" before turning around again.

Ailín walked over to the bowl of clean water they kept in the washroom of their cabin, yawing as he was still half asleep. He cupped his hands and filled them with water, splashing it on his face. The cold washed away his morning tiredness and he stretched his arms over his head. Once he was done with his morning gymnastics, he brushed out his tangled hair and put it in a low ponytail like usual. 

As he returned to his bedroom to search for his clothes, Kai's blond hair was the only thing that was still visible from under the blankets. That sight made him smile lightly. Ailín collected his shirt from the pile where they had carelessly thrown their clothes together last night. They both had stayed awake for too long, but while Ailín was still able to wake up on time in the early morning, Kai on the other hand would most likely oversleep if he didn't wake him up before leaving. 

Ailín put on the rest of his leather armor, the sleeveless harness showing off the ornamental nordic tattoos that adorned his arms, before walking over to their bed to wake Kai up. He kneeled down and watched him for a peaceful second, then mercilessly pulled away the blankets.

Kai reacted as expected, yelling at him for being so inconsiderate, but Ailín only laughed while Kai was frantically trying to get under the blankets again. “Give that back, it’s cold!”

"Wake up, sleepyhead." He said when Kai finally calmed down, ruffling through his hair. "You're gonna be late if you don't get ready soon."

It only earned him a grumpy look from his friend. "Fine, fine." He said and slowly made the effort to get out of bed, slouching off into the washroom.

Satisfied, Ailín left him alone and went to pick up his hunting weapons. He took his usual hunting knife as well as a dagger, and after some consideration, also took his bow with him. It couldn't hurt to have it with him, even if he didn't use it as often as he did with his close-range weapons. As soon as he had gathered everything for his morning hunt, he shouted a, “Until later!” to Kai, then he stepped outside.

The early morning was cold and Ailín took a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was just about to rise behind the horizon. Morning dew covered the grass surrounding the small pathways that connected the cabins of the settlement and there was still a faint hint of fog hanging in the air. Nobody was outside yet, besides himself, as Ailín made his way down the path leading out of the settlement. 

"Ailín wait!" He turned his head when he heard his mom calling after him. Seemed like he wasn't the only one awake this early.

Jona quickly caught up with him. She was dressed in similar fashion to his armor and also carried her hunting knives with her. "Care if I come hunting with you?" she asked once she reached her son.

Ailín stared for a moment, raising his eyebrows, unsure why she had suddenly decided to come with him, as she rather preferred to hunt in the afternoon instead of the morning, when he hunted alone. "Uhm, sure why not." He answered, not wanting to decline her friendly offer. "I wanted to check the traps I set up yesterday, and then maybe hunt some deer, depending on how much prey we'll have by then. The herd is around again, and there might be a good chance to get some good catch."

Jona nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a plan. Lead the way."

Together they left the village, their path leading them deeper into the valley. The settlement was built on a small plateau, halfway into the mountainside, their usual hunting territory extending down to the valley, where light forests surrounded grasslands, as well as further up the mountains, with trees so close even in the middle of the day the sunlight was blocked out. While Ailín preferred to hunt in the mountains, setting traps was easier down in the valley, so the first thing in the morning naturally led him there.

Jona and Ailín soon reached the lower valley, and he swiftly explained where he had placed the traps yesterday, dividing the work for the two of them. The traps they used usually caught small prey, such as foxes and rabbits, small rodents, pheasants and other birds. Ailín would check the traps along the small river stream, while those in the nearby forest were left to Jona's responsibility, and they decided on a meeting place after they were both done with their respective tasks.

Ailín parted ways with Jona, and made his way to the first trap. Since he knew where he had placed them all, he guessed he would be done in almost no time and then go assist his mom. As if Kyne had blessed him, the first traps he came across had been successful, and he could continue his check-up, now carrying two small rabbits with him. He had caught bigger ones already, but it was better than nothing. And the day was still at its beginning.

About halfway through, he rested at the river he had followed for a short time, washing off the blood from his hands and counting how much he had harvested from the traps already. In addition to the two rabbits, he also had caught a bird and a young fawn in the traps, still alive by the time Ailín found them, so he had to put the animals out of their misery. It was something natural that he did all the time. When he was younger, he may have flinched at this task, but by now he had learned that it was just a part of life. All the other traps had been still empty, or broken, showing which places were the most successful to set up a trap in. Ailín mentally noted where those were, he would later discuss where his mom had found the most prey, so he could improve his trap setting system.

By the time Ailín was finished with checking every trap on his side, he hadn't found anything else in them, but still decided to leave the empty traps in place. More time was all he needed, he would simply come back the next few days to see if there was an animal poor enough to end up in his trap.

Ailín strapped the prey on his belt so his hands were free again. The sun had completely risen by the time he went to search for Jona, filling the valley with warm light, and a soft spring breeze blew over the waist-high grass. To be able to completely enjoy the feeling of the wind, he pulled his tie from his hair and ruffled through his wild mane. He liked to feel the wind, for him, it was a sign of freedom.

He soon reached the small forest where Jona should have checked the traps. Maybe he could search for her traces and catch up to her. Ailín followed the path until he reached the first trap. It was empty, so there were exactly two possibilities. Either she hadn't been here yet, or the trap simply had been empty before and she had left it untouched. Looking around for more clues surrounding the trap, he saw something that reminded him of a footprint, and there was even a bit of blood splattered on the ground. Which meant, she must've been here already. Concluding from this and the direction they had started from, he knew where he had to go and immediately set after his mom.

Sprinting through the forest, he could soon see his mom in the distance and he slowed down, hiding behind a larger tree. She had just checked her supposedly last trap and judging from what Ailín saw, her hunt had been more successful than his own. 

"I've noticed you already, you can come here. I know you've followed me." Jona said without looking up. 

Ailín came out from his hiding spot, walking over to her. "I haven't even tried to hide from you. But I did find you on my own without much effort. You should be careful with how much blood you spill on the ground, you're leaving traces behind."

"Do not try to berate me, young man." She said shaking her head, trying to sound stern, but the amusement in her voice gave her intent away. "And yes, you did a good job finding me, you're good at reading traces, as always. Now do me a favor and help me carry all this prey."

Ailín chuckled and tied his hair together again. "Of course." He picked up two foxes from her, while Jona carried the rest.

"You know, while I checked your traps, I began to think you sent me here on purpose so I had more work to do."

"It wasn't on purpose, I swear!" Ailín defended himself. "It's just that I only recently extended setting up traps down at the river, so I still have to find out which spots are the best. Most of them were empty, so I'll let them stay for the next days to see whether they will catch something. So I know where I should set up the traps next time. I thought it may be helpful for the rest to know as well."

Jona smiled while her son rambled about his thoughts. "That's a good idea. We should bring our prey back to the village and then we could go out again. Depends on what the others have planned, I might have to discuss something with Minna first, though."

Ailín nodded absentmindedly. "Can we first stop by Kyne's shrine? I just want to make another offering and I think we still have some time before we should be back."

"Sure, we can go there. We might as well have a small snack there, I brought some food with me, if you want." Jona and Ailín left the way that would lead them back to the settlement, and instead climbed up a steep hill, where only a small pathway showed frequent signs of use. 

Once they reached the top, Ailín carefully laid the prey on the ground and walked over to the shrine standing at the edge of the small cliff. Said shrine consisted of a wooden hawk statue, quite tall as it reached up to Ailín's chest, with its wings stretched out as if it were a mother bird protecting her nest. At the bottom laid several small objects the others had left here as an offering when they came by during their hunts, mostly self-made objects, such as wood carvings, but also plants and other pretty things they had found. The wood of the statue was covered with moss and mushrooms had started to sprout at the bottom recently. Ailín had volunteered to put himself in charge of keeping the shrine nice and intact a few years back, as he started to visit the shrine more regularly, until he almost came here everyday.

Ailín sat down cross-legged in front of the statue, while Jona sat on a stone behind him. He took out a tiny feather that he had carved out of a deer's bone himself. It was only a small thing, not of much material value, but still a meaningful offering. He carefully placed the feather next to the other offerings at the statue and closed his eyes before he started praying.

"Kyne, dearest mother goddess,  
For your blessing I've come,  
So that our hunt may be successful.  
Keep your wings over us,  
So that you guide our lives.  
And may your winds lead us safely  
So that we can find the peace in us."

Ailín opened his eyes again, blinking against the midday sun. He observed the statue for a moment before turning around to Jona. She had only listened to his prayer, but was still watching him with pride.

"That was really beautiful. Did you come up with it yourself?" She asked, taking out two bread loafs from her pocket, handing one of them to him.

"I did, spontaneously. I just said what was coming to my mind at the moment. When I don't know what to say, I'll recite from memory. But this one was completely new.” He answered truthfully, still chewing on his first bite. “Do you really think it's that good? I've had better ones before." 

"Yes, of course I liked it. It does make the whole situation a personal relationship. Quite impressive." She looked over to the statue, then back to her son. "And you even made the offering all by yourself. You’re really devoted to Her, I couldn't be more proud of you. "

He snorted. "So many compliments and it's not even sundown yet. I find peace in my beliefs, that is all. But I still have a question, why did you come along on my hunt? Not meant in a bad way, you'd just never do that unless you have a very specific reason."

She needed almost suspiciously long to come up with her answer. "I just wanted to see how your hunting skills have progressed." But he was satisfied enough.

"Then, how good am I?" Ailín smirked, waiting for more praise. 

"You're good at setting up traps. You know, judging by what I have seen, how to use the environment to your advantage. And you're as good as always in reading tracks and drawing the correct conclusion that leads you to your goal."

Jona's compliments made Ailín beam with pride. "I definitely have to tell Kai about this." He whispered to himself before jumping to his feet and walked over to where they had laid down their prey before. "Well, I'm ready to leave. Let's get home, shall we?"

The two left the shrine and made their way back to the settlement. Once they had left the most exhausting part of the way behind, they could already see the cabins laying in the distance. The lake directly next to the village looked equally idyllic, and from the distance Ailín saw four people standing at the shore, working in the water.

As soon as he recognized Kai's fluffy blond hair in midst them, he sprinted towards him. Kai, who had sat by the lake, heard him approach and turned around to greet his friend. 

"Welcome back Wolf, how was your hunt?" Kai took Ailín's hand to pull himself up from the ground before adding with a smile. "And good morning Jona." 

"Really good, we've got some nice catches." Ailín handed his mom the animals he had carried. She willingly took the extra load without complaining, so he could spend some time talking to Kai, and walked off to the settlement. "And what have you done this morning? Just sitting around by the lake?"

"No, you just came back during my break. I helped Feli with her fishing, and she wouldn't let me leave until I agreed." Felicitas, Kai's younger sister, waved at them, standing in the shallow water of the lake. She had obvious problems with her fishing net constantly getting caught in the water plants, frantically trying to free it while not tripping in the water. 

But Kai pulled Ailín with him and ran to the village, ignoring his sister's shouting after him. "She can ask the others to help, I don't even know why she asked me in the first place. I'm not even a fisher, I'm a hunter." He complained once they were out of hearing. 

Ailín could only laugh at his misery, putting his arm around his shoulders. "If you missed your hunting opportunity, we can go out together later. I just have to find my mom first, she wanted to talk to Minna about something, I should tell her because she asked me first this morning." 

But Jona already came up to Ailín before he had the chance to move. She seemed rather tense and immediately took the word. "There you are. Ailín, can you come with me for a minute?"

Ailín and Kai shared a confused look. "Did something happen?" 

"Not exactly, but it's really important. Kai, can you wait at outside, or at your cabin until then? It shouldn't take long." Jona looked at him with an expression that didn't allow a "No."

Slightly overwhelmed by her sudden request, Kai agreed. "Until later, Wolf. And good luck." He added quietly, winking at Ailín for goodbye and walking back to their cabin. 

Meanwhile Ailín had to follow his mom to her own house, nervously looking around because he had no clue what she wanted from him. Before, Jona had seemed to be in such a good mood, but now she had changed into such a serious tone he feared he had actually done something wrong.

She opened the door for Ailín and let him inside. Minna was already there as well, and pointed him to take a seat on one of the pillows on the ground. Other than his mom, Minna smiled at him as he sat down. He watched Minna, then looked at Jona again. She finally sat down and took a deep breath before starting to talk.

"So, as we have already talked about, you have shown to be a very skilled hunter over the past years. And now that we," She pointed at Minna and herself. "have discussed the possibility, we are certain that you are ready for it."

"Uhm, ready for what exactly?" Ailín tried to make sense of her unspecific words. "Have I done something wrong?"

Minna chuckled lightly and explained what Jona had tried to say before. "Everything's okay, Ailín. In fact, you have been chosen for an extremely important task that you shouldn't take lightly. Take your time to think about our proposal for a moment, and then decide for yourself.”

Ailín nodded before his mom continued. “We want you to take part in one of Kyne's Sacred Trials."


End file.
